Red Wings defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom was his usual brilliant self in the first round against the Predators. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

WESTERN CONFERENCE

DETROIT (1) vs. COLORADO (6)

Detroit:
STRENGTHS: The Red Wings pretty much played to form in the first round, pushed by Nashville, but finding a way to prevail. They looked good, not great and battled through terrific Nashville goaltending. In the end the likes of Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski fueled the offence, but their depth proved to be significant, too. Their penalty killing was excellent and while Dominik Hasek struggled, they still had a Stanley Cup winner to turn to in Chris Osgood to get the job done. Again, good depth. Niklas Kronwall had a good series and was a physical presence.

WEAKNESSES: The power play, which was third-best during the regular season, struggled mightily against the Predators. Hasek was very average in goal, but like we said, Osgood is a good alternative. They may have to ride two goaltenders this spring, but it's still early. Losing twice in Nashville allowed for some element of doubt to creep in, but for whatever reason the Red Wings are a team that is always doubted, or under appreciated. The question still remains about how they will fare against an opponent that has better offence, though again they were great defensively during the regular season.

KEY PLAYER: Osgood. If we have seen the last of Hasek, then Osgood is going to have to be consistently very good for the Red Wings to go deep.

Colorado:
STRENGTHS: This certainly wouldn't have been said a year ago, but goaltender Jose Theodore is a definitive strength. He was nothing short of brilliant in the first round against Minnesota and had to be. The likes of Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk up front, along with Andrew Brunette and Wojtek Wolski were stellar against the Wild. Adam Foote and Ruslan Salei and Kurt Sauer were great at the back end. Foote, especially, was the shutdown guy, consistently frustrating Marian Gaborik. Even though they gave up a lot of shots and chances, the fact that the Avalanche were able to shut down the Wild's big gunners was encouraging. The penalty killing was also good.

WEAKNESSES: The Avs had a terrible time protecting leads, though for the longest time they didn't allow the Wild to score until the third period or overtime. But blowing leads is troubling. They also gave up far too many shots and relied too heavily on Theodore. The power play wasn't good and allowed two shorthanded goals. For much of the series young Paul Stastny struggled. They need him to be better.

KEY PLAYER: Theodore. As good as Foote was especially, the real shutdown guy was Theodore. Anything less than he delivered in the first round and the Avs are done.

Sharks forward Joe Thornton showed plenty of grit against the Flames in the first round. (Mike Ridewood/Getty Images)

SAN JOSE (2) vs. DALLAS (5)

San Jose :
STRENGTHS: Just like the Stars, the team they will face, the Sharks are playing monkey-free. Well, sort of. A second-round loss is probably only slightly better than a first-round exit, but being pushed by the Flames to the limit should help. In the end, the Sharks responded in the seventh game with Evgeni Nabokov solid in goal, Joe Thornton showing the grit everyone has wondered about and Patrick Marleau good from start to finish. We all know how good this team can be, so maybe now they can relax and be that good, although Dallas will be a difficult opponent. And if you think it won't be nasty, rewind the tapes of the final meeting of the season. But if Thornton chimes in with timely points, Marleau continues to shine and they get production from deep in the lineup from the likes of Ryan Clowe, the Sharks will be happy.

WEAKNESSES: Well, that psyche we talked about as a potential strength is still probably quite fragile. Nabokov was good in the Calgary series, but seemed a tad wobbly in the final game, but he did get the job done. If Kyle McLaren is gone, that hurts the blue-line. Despite out shooting the Flames by a wide margin, they were hard pressed to get that wide margin on the scoreboard and Marty Turco will be every bit as tough to beat. Ron Wilson will also have to resist the temptation to tinker with a winning lineup, as he did in the Calgary series.

KEY PLAYER: Marleau. This kid sucks it up and plays hard. He has endured criticism, he has been the poster boy for their failures, but he had a great first round and this is his playoff to shine.

Dallas :
STRENGTHS: They are no longer playing with a monkey on their backs. Remember, the Stars hadn't won a playoff round since 2003 and had taken on the reputation of being post-season underachievers. But that is now behind them, along with the defending champions. Against Anaheim, the Stars played with discipline and good defence, their power play punished the undisciplined Ducks. All facets of their game were good, with the Stars looking more like they did in February than in March. Brad Richards proved again he is a big-time playoff performer. Brendan Morrow had a strong series, as did defenceman Stephane Robidas, who really stepped up and played well despite taking a puck in the face. Indeed, the Stars survived quite nicely despite missing defencemen Sergei Zubov and Phillippe Boucher, though you don't want that to be a long-term proposition.

WEAKNESSES: Not a lot of weaknesses showed up against the Ducks, though you could argue the penalty killing could still improve slightly, it was working at 79 per cent efficiency. The injuries on the blue-line could eventually become a factor. And we wonder if there is enough scoring to prevail, though that only becomes an issue if the defensive play goes south, and there are no signs of that happening. Meantime, they got production from a lot of different sources.

KEY PLAYER: Richards. He is the guy who has gone the distance in the playoffs and played well in the first round. He earned points, but even more significant is he was a plus two, this on the heels of being minus 27 during the regular season.